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GP effectively dismissed my depression
Hi,
A few weeks ago I shaved my head. (I'm a boy) Before I had extremely long hair, and after a misunderstanding with the hairdresser which involved him giving me quite a short style and chose to just shave it all off and rid myself of that horrible cut, maybe start again. It has profoundly impacted me. I hate the way I look so much. I spent a whole year growing it out, and now I'm just back where I started. I can't concentrate any more on my studies. I haven't been working for about a month and my ASs are coming up. I've missed loads of school because Ive been so anxious (most of my time since shaving has been school holiday though). I can't even read a book, my mind is so preoccupied with my hair, I look like a skinhead, It looks terrible and I can't even comb it down as a fringe, there's nothing there! I can't get up in the morning, or focus for more than a few seconds. I just pretty sleep now a days. Even when I don't go to school I don't revise at home. I just watch rubbish on YouTube and sleep. It's not that I'm being lazy. I Honestly can't concentrate without any hair. I've seen a counsellor, but things aren't getting much better. The only thing I feel can give me motivation is for my hair to grow back, at least for it to cover my ears. That will take about 3 months. Meanwhile I have no motivation to do anything, I find it hard to leave home, and when I do I wear a hat which is itchy and drives me mad. I saw a GP. She was very young and seemed inexperienced. I was in there for about two minutes. She asked me what I would like her to do for me when I explained my situation. I think she just thought I was a bit anxious from a bad haircut and wanted extenuating circumstances to get better exam results. This is not the case. She gave me a leaflet with a counsellor's number on it and that was that. I don't know what to do. I don't know what the GP is supposed to do in a situation like this. Did she misunderstand me or just didn't think it was depression. I don't know how she would know if it was depression or not I explained the situation and she hardly asked anything more, except if I self harmed or not, and how my sleep was. She typed some stuff on the computer and said I don't think the exam board would take this into consideration.
A few weeks ago I shaved my head. (I'm a boy) Before I had extremely long hair, and after a misunderstanding with the hairdresser which involved him giving me quite a short style and chose to just shave it all off and rid myself of that horrible cut, maybe start again. It has profoundly impacted me. I hate the way I look so much. I spent a whole year growing it out, and now I'm just back where I started. I can't concentrate any more on my studies. I haven't been working for about a month and my ASs are coming up. I've missed loads of school because Ive been so anxious (most of my time since shaving has been school holiday though). I can't even read a book, my mind is so preoccupied with my hair, I look like a skinhead, It looks terrible and I can't even comb it down as a fringe, there's nothing there! I can't get up in the morning, or focus for more than a few seconds. I just pretty sleep now a days. Even when I don't go to school I don't revise at home. I just watch rubbish on YouTube and sleep. It's not that I'm being lazy. I Honestly can't concentrate without any hair. I've seen a counsellor, but things aren't getting much better. The only thing I feel can give me motivation is for my hair to grow back, at least for it to cover my ears. That will take about 3 months. Meanwhile I have no motivation to do anything, I find it hard to leave home, and when I do I wear a hat which is itchy and drives me mad. I saw a GP. She was very young and seemed inexperienced. I was in there for about two minutes. She asked me what I would like her to do for me when I explained my situation. I think she just thought I was a bit anxious from a bad haircut and wanted extenuating circumstances to get better exam results. This is not the case. She gave me a leaflet with a counsellor's number on it and that was that. I don't know what to do. I don't know what the GP is supposed to do in a situation like this. Did she misunderstand me or just didn't think it was depression. I don't know how she would know if it was depression or not I explained the situation and she hardly asked anything more, except if I self harmed or not, and how my sleep was. She typed some stuff on the computer and said I don't think the exam board would take this into consideration.
Original post by Cyan Ink
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If you're not happy with her advice you can book to see another GP. But it does sound like an odd situation, and admittedly it doesn't sound like depression - you'll be fine when your hair grows back, right? That's not really how depression works. Probably anxiety, but getting treatment such as CBT would most likely take longer than the time it will take to grow your hair back!
Could you buy a wig that looks a lot like your hair, that might make you feel better enough to sit your exams?
Original post by Cyan Ink
Hi,
A few weeks ago I shaved my head. (I'm a boy) Before I had extremely long hair, and after a misunderstanding with the hairdresser which involved him giving me quite a short style and chose to just shave it all off and rid myself of that horrible cut, maybe start again. It has profoundly impacted me. I hate the way I look so much. I spent a whole year growing it out, and now I'm just back where I started. I can't concentrate any more on my studies. I haven't been working for about a month and my ASs are coming up. I've missed loads of school because Ive been so anxious (most of my time since shaving has been school holiday though). I can't even read a book, my mind is so preoccupied with my hair, I look like a skinhead, It looks terrible and I can't even comb it down as a fringe, there's nothing there! I can't get up in the morning, or focus for more than a few seconds. I just pretty sleep now a days. Even when I don't go to school I don't revise at home. I just watch rubbish on YouTube and sleep. It's not that I'm being lazy. I Honestly can't concentrate without any hair. I've seen a counsellor, but things aren't getting much better. The only thing I feel can give me motivation is for my hair to grow back, at least for it to cover my ears. That will take about 3 months. Meanwhile I have no motivation to do anything, I find it hard to leave home, and when I do I wear a hat which is itchy and drives me mad. I saw a GP. She was very young and seemed inexperienced. I was in there for about two minutes. She asked me what I would like her to do for me when I explained my situation. I think she just thought I was a bit anxious from a bad haircut and wanted extenuating circumstances to get better exam results. This is not the case. She gave me a leaflet with a counsellor's number on it and that was that. I don't know what to do. I don't know what the GP is supposed to do in a situation like this. Did she misunderstand me or just didn't think it was depression. I don't know how she would know if it was depression or not I explained the situation and she hardly asked anything more, except if I self harmed or not, and how my sleep was. She typed some stuff on the computer and said I don't think the exam board would take this into consideration.
A few weeks ago I shaved my head. (I'm a boy) Before I had extremely long hair, and after a misunderstanding with the hairdresser which involved him giving me quite a short style and chose to just shave it all off and rid myself of that horrible cut, maybe start again. It has profoundly impacted me. I hate the way I look so much. I spent a whole year growing it out, and now I'm just back where I started. I can't concentrate any more on my studies. I haven't been working for about a month and my ASs are coming up. I've missed loads of school because Ive been so anxious (most of my time since shaving has been school holiday though). I can't even read a book, my mind is so preoccupied with my hair, I look like a skinhead, It looks terrible and I can't even comb it down as a fringe, there's nothing there! I can't get up in the morning, or focus for more than a few seconds. I just pretty sleep now a days. Even when I don't go to school I don't revise at home. I just watch rubbish on YouTube and sleep. It's not that I'm being lazy. I Honestly can't concentrate without any hair. I've seen a counsellor, but things aren't getting much better. The only thing I feel can give me motivation is for my hair to grow back, at least for it to cover my ears. That will take about 3 months. Meanwhile I have no motivation to do anything, I find it hard to leave home, and when I do I wear a hat which is itchy and drives me mad. I saw a GP. She was very young and seemed inexperienced. I was in there for about two minutes. She asked me what I would like her to do for me when I explained my situation. I think she just thought I was a bit anxious from a bad haircut and wanted extenuating circumstances to get better exam results. This is not the case. She gave me a leaflet with a counsellor's number on it and that was that. I don't know what to do. I don't know what the GP is supposed to do in a situation like this. Did she misunderstand me or just didn't think it was depression. I don't know how she would know if it was depression or not I explained the situation and she hardly asked anything more, except if I self harmed or not, and how my sleep was. She typed some stuff on the computer and said I don't think the exam board would take this into consideration.
Hi there. You sound like you're in a really confusing situation and unfortionately nobody is going to be able to give you an exact answer. I'd suggest you look up things like depression and anxiety (mind.org is a good place to start) and see if that helps you work things out a little.
Loads of people have phases of being depressed throughout life and it can be triggered by things like traumatic experiences, stress or yes even a bad haircut. If you get triggered by something as seemingly basic as a haircut then you may have some underlying self esteem, anxiety or image issues too. Depression as a diagnosis is a little bit different and is usually used for a longer term issue with being depressed. Doctors will often avoid a dianosis for a while, especially with younger people as sometimes it is thought that labeling them with a condition may do more harm than good and they are likely to be able to get over it (that sounds harsh, but it's not the implication i'm going for) without to much intervention.
It's clear that there is something wrong since you are feeling down and having trouble, but it's not too easy to say what the issue is or how serious it may be.
I'd suggest looking into things and seeing if you think you may have a problem like depression or are just having a period of being depressed (I say just, but it doesn't mean it isn't serious like depression or really suckish to go through). If you think you do have a longer term issue then go back to the gp and have a letter with all your evidence/ symptoms. If you think it is a tempory issue keep up with seeing a counselor and try looking into what triggered it (seems like it was the hair situation) and why that had such an impact. I'd suggest you look into things like self esteem or image problems as a possile influence.
If things aren't seeming to work go back to the gp and have a chat about it. You may find something other than counseling (maybe therapy) helpful.
I know it can be really difficult and confusing especially when you are trying to talk to doctors and things about it. Keep going looking for answers and help and don't just give up. You deserve to feel happy and you will
